Call to dismiss principals for poor results

The NGO Women and Men Against Child Abuse has called for the dismissal of all principals from under-performing schools.

“The MECs of each province, in collaboration with the Department of Education and the trade unions, should crack the whip over all principals of schools that performed dismally in last year’s matric exams,” said the founder of the NGO Miranda Jordan Friedmann. This was in response to media reports that several MECs were threatening to take action against under-performing principals.

“Those principals must go. All those principals of schools that have under-performed last year, and over a number of years, should be dismissed and replaced immediately before the school term’s start this year. There are dysfunctional schools in each province that are known and simply not being dealt with; the majority of children in our country are not receiving the education they should be,” said Jordan Friedmann. She said money was not the underlying issue but that political will was.

She said educational neglect could pose a serious threat to a child’s emotional well-being, physical health or normal psychological growth and development, particularly when the

child has special educational needs that are not met.

“If we all believe that education is the mother of all professions, then what sort of professionals or professions does our government think the current education system will produce? Until all MECs and policymakers succeed in turning our education infrastructure around into a competitive, effective system, many children – and our society at large – will continue to bear the brunt of their inaction and decisions,” she added.